WKRG-TV did some legwork and found the man responsible for one of the more successful secession petitions — the one asking for a peaceful grant of withdrawal on behalf of Alabama.

Started by the aptly named Derrick Belcher, a 45-year-old trucking company manager from Chunchula, the petition has already crossed the 25,000-signature threshold required to receive a response from the government.

So, who is Belcher? And why is he so mad he'd sooner sever all ties with the United States than live another day in the shadow of Old Glory? From AL.com:

"I'm working poor. And I work -– I've never taken a dime from the government. I'll starve before I take a handout. That's what being a true American is all about."

Belcher blamed the government for shutting down his former business. Belcher said his Euro Details car wash, which featured topless women, was successful for a decade on Halls Mill Road in Mobile. But he said he was arrested and charged with obscenity by city officials in 2001.

"The government ripped my business away, and now they're choking America to death with rules and regulations," he said.